2 chapters in 3 months! Can't remember the last time I did that ;-)

Enjoy

Even though Donatello was bored out of his mind, he still preferred the boredom to anything else happening in this place.

He spent this time trying to think up an escape plan. Given enough time, the genius turtle could come up with plans that had backup plans and back-ups to the back up plans, kind of like a flow chart that would map out possible actions and reactions to different scenarios. His plans had an 84.7% success rate so far, which given their life style and what they do, are pretty good odds. The thing is, the purple masked turtle didn't know how much time he had, so it was hard to consider everything that could go wrong.

There were three major steps that he had to do in order to escape. First, he had to find a way to get out of this room. Second, he had to find and get Bree out and third, he had to find a way to destroy all of Bishops data on this current project. In a perfect world he would even be able to erase all other data Bishop had on him and his brothers for good, but it would be a bonus if he could get it done.

Donatello then reviewed what he knew. He knew where Bree was being kept and how to get there from his current location. He knew where a computer was that he could hack into. The downside to those two things is that Bishop would beef up his security on both him and Bree and would also update the security on his computer network as well. So he would have less time to do more than on his last escape attempt.

The genius turtle spent the better part of what he guessed was 2 days trying to come up with something that didn't get him or Bree killed and he was getting frustrated at the lack of any basic plan being even marginally successful. The only good thing that has happened in that time is that he was left pretty much alone, only being bothered when meals were delivered. His restraints were finally removed when his second meal came and they never bothered to come in and put them back on, they open the door just enough to slide the tray in.

He was still sore from the beating he received a couple days ago but other than that and wanting some real food, he was ok. But the more time that passed with no visits from Bishop or anyone else, the more anxious Donatello got. In that time, he has also continued the debate on if he should contact his brothers on the astral plane again and warn them or continue to keep them as far away from this as possible. What always stopped him was if they knew who had him, they would come find him, no matter the danger to themselves. Donatello could not let Bishop get his hands on his brothers, not just for their sakes but also for what Bishop wanted to do with their DNA. As much as he didn't want to, he had to think of the bigger picture.

'The needs of the many, out way the needs of the few.' The quote from Spock crossed his mind. Yes, he was a Trekkie, despite the technical inaccuracies in the original series, Donatello enjoyed watching Spock's character on the show. The struggle of being part human and part Vulcan felt similar to the struggles he and his family faced with being part turtle and part human. It had helped him to cope when he was younger and to help him accept himself the way he was.

Once again, Spock's logic won out. He couldn't risk it, no matter how much he missed his family and wanted to be with them. And once again, the realization that he truly was all on his own hit him like a brick wall. The purple masked turtle has never been so totally on his own before. Even when he was sent to that horrible future, he had his brothers by his side. That train of thought then morphed into what if this is what happened? What if this is when he 'disappeared' in that future? This rattled Donatello to the core. But again the bigger picture mattered more. His brothers were alive in that future, but so many more were not. He felt like he was stuck between a rock and a hard place.

He heard the door open again and he thought it was just another meal delivery. But when Bishop walked in instead, Donatello knew the short reprieve was over.

"Hello Donatello. It's been a while. How have you been fairing?"

Donatello glared at the smirk on the man's face. He bit back a sarcastic response. His injuries were just starting to feel like they were healing and he didn't want any more right now. So he just stood there and waited for Bishop to explain the reason for this visit.

"Straight to business I see. Fine by me. It seems that your absence from your lady friend may potentially cause undue stress, which would not be favored at this time in the process. So I am allowing you to be placed back with her."

This caught Donatello by surprise. He thought he would be kept away from Bree as much as possible. Bishop knew he would never try to escape without her.

"Yes, keeping the two of you separate is better strategically and even though it goes against my better judgement, it is more important for now to keep her as… comfortable as possible."

It suddenly clicked for the genius turtle, "You've inseminated her."

It was not a question, but the statement came out in a shocked whisper.

The agent smiled, "Yes my terrapin friend, in couple short weeks, hopefully, we will find out if the procedure was successful. This stage is fragile and an excessive amount of stress can thwart any chance at success."

There was a moment of silence when Donatello thought of something else, "What's the catch?"

"You are clever turtle. The 'catch' as you call it is that you will be permanently restrained. During the times when partial restraints are a necessity, you will be heavily guarded and meticulously supervised."

Honestly, Donatello expected as much, but it still gave him a hopeless feeling in the pit of his stomach.

"Now it's going to take even more time to think of a way out of this. At least it takes one factor off the check list. I will be with Bree. But it feels like one step forward, and five steps backwards."

Donatello purposely made his expression look like he was starting to lose some of that hope Bishop knew he still had. He knew it worked because Bishop had a small smirk on his face.

"We have made the modifications to accommodate you already so be a good little turtle and come without making a fuss."

That smirk stayed plastered on Bishops face as two of his men entered. One held the familiar cuffs he had on previously. He did not struggle as they secured his hands behind his back.

He knew something else was up when the guard behind him then grabbed onto his shoulders holding him in place. His eyes flicked to Bishop who still held a superior sneer and then his gaze shifted to the other guard that had entered.

"You remember Robert, don't you? I believe you got more acquainted a couple days ago." Bishop said indicated the second guard.

Donatello did recognize the man…Robert, as the one that gave him his 'punishment'.

"I told you last time that you belonged to us now, so I brought you a present to make sure you remember that." Robert chuckled as he reached behind him and pulled out two pieces of metal, both half circles.

"I even got it engraved for you." And he laughed even harder.

Donatello automatically tried backing up as Robert got closer, but he had forgotten about the other guard holding him in place. Donatello hissed as the grip on his shoulders got tighter.

Robert brought one of the objects up so Donatello could see the inscription. It simply said 'Fido'. But Donatello noticed the unusual gleam of the metal it was made of before the guard behind spun him around so his shell was facing Robert, who then quickly placed the metal pieces around his neck, like a collar. The collar was tight, tighter than it should be, but it didn't hinder the turtles breathing any.

"You should be honored Donatello for you are the first to have something made from this material on the entire planet. This gift is made from an alien metal stronger than anything we have seen and it has a very interesting feature. When it comes into contact with another piece of the same material, it fuses together seamlessly. Don't you find that fascinating?"

The purple masked turtle didn't trust himself to speak at that moment, so he just glared at the agent.

He actually didn't expect the back handed strike that nearly made him stumble back.

"Speak Fido!" Robert demanded.

Donatello didn't want to humor the man. The collar was humiliating enough, but he really didn't have much of a choice either. Another beating at this point would just set him back and make him even weaker.

"Very interesting." He couldn't keep all the sarcasm from spilling out but enough to satisfy the man.

"Good boy." Robert replied as he patted the turtle on the head, just like you would a dog.

Donatello just took a deep breath trying to calm himself of his initial reaction to what had just played out. To say he was frustrated and humiliated was a gross understatement, but he also knew that they wanted a reaction from him.

Robert then attached a chain to the turtle's collar as Bishop walked up to the pair,

"I don't know what you are trying to accomplish with this Bishop, but I will not be so easily broken." Donatello hissed.

"I have no motive for this treatment nor am I responsible for it. I am simply letting my employees have some fun with their work." Bishop replied with an air of indifference.

Donatello was about to reply but a hard yank from the chain had him staggering after Robert. He ignored the order of 'Come Fido' that came right after the yank, and followed him out into the hallway. The walk wasn't that long, but every few steps and he was yanked by the chain and commanded to 'Heel'. By the fourth time, the normally calm turtle was practically grinding his teeth with the effort to not act out in response.

The room he was lead to was not the one he and Bree were in originally and when he entered, he knew why the change. It was slightly larger, complete with a bed built into the floor in one corner and in another corner was a toilet. On the bed sat Bree, who looked up when the entered the room.

"Donatello?" She said in a soft mumble, like she didn't believe what she was seeing.

She didn't move from her spot but her eyes followed to where he was led to on the other side of the room.

The purple masked turtle was able to meet her eyes for a brief moment before he was encouraged by a strong tug on the chain to keep following and Donatello wordlessly complied. There was a ring protruding from the wall and that is where Robert fastened the chain that was attached to his collar. The brainy turtle estimated that it would be long enough for him to sit down, but just barely. His hands were released one at a time and cuffed with a chain attached to a ring on the floor to each side. Standing up he had very little slack and wouldn't be able to bend his arms very much. These restraints were measured out perfectly and precisely for him to be able to sit or stand. But no matter the position, he would not be able to reach the locks on his wrists. Not even with his feet, which were left free.

Once he was secure, Robert patted him on the head, "Good boy Fido, now stay." Him and his companion laughed as they walked away and out of the room. Donatello glared at their backs as they left.

As soon as they were gone, Bree was off her bed and ran over to the purple masked turtle. Before either of them knew it, her arms were around his neck in hug. Donatello was shocked at first, but returned the embrace as best he could, or as much as his restraints allowed.

"I'm so glad you're ok, I didn't know what they were going to do. Bishop looked so mad I thought he was going to kill you."

It was at this moment that Bree realized what she was doing and quickly stepped away stuttering,

"Oh my gosh, I'm sorry, I just-"

Donatello just gave her a warm smile, "It's ok, really." He replied to ease her mind, "Bishop was mad, really mad actually, but he can't afford to kill me. At least not at the moment."

"Did he do that to you?' Bree asked, indicating the new bruises and bandages covering his body."

"Not personally, one of his lackeys did, but I'm fine, really. I've had a lot worse."

It was then that Bree noticed the collar and she felt her own anger start to rise. Donatello noticed her gaze.

"Yeah, that's part of Bishops mind games he loves to play, probably trying break my spirit or something."

"So that's why that guy called you Fido. This dude is sick." She replied.

"Yeah, you don't know that half of it." The turtle mumbled, not really intending for the woman to hear.

"What do you mean? You know what he is planning on doing with us, don't you?"

She gave him a beseeching look.

"Yes." He whispered.

"Then you have to tell me, I have the right to know." Bree demanded.

"I know you do but it-it's complicated." Donatello was stalling, but he knew she deserved to know the truth, but he just didn't know how to tell her. There was no breaking it to her easy or sugar coating it.

"Then please explain it to me, we obviously have the time."

Donatello sighed, "Alright, but I think it would be better if we sat down."

Bree got sat down on the floor easily, but it took Donatello a bit more effort because of the restraints and his injuries. Even with his shell against the wall, the chain pulled on the collar uncomfortably, but Bishop never really cared for his comfort. He even mostly likely did it on purpose.

He took only a few moments to gather his thoughts, before he started explaining the reason why they were both taken. He didn't beat around the bush but just gave the facts as he knew them. It really didn't take all that long to explain. When he was done, there was just silence between them. He didn't know the woman very well so he didn't have any guesses as to how she would react to being told that her body was being used to make a mutant/human hybrid by a sociopath.

It tore Donatello up inside when he saw a single tear slide down her cheek. Bree wiped it away while making brief eye contact before she looked away.

"I can't express how sorry I am that you got caught up in this."

Bree could feel the sincerity in her companion's words, but her thoughts and emotions were still too much, too raw, so she only nodded to acknowledge what he said. Another quick glance at the turtle and she could see the regret in his face as well. After several minutes, Bree finally broke her silence.

"Bishop is a psychotic bastard."

Donatello chuckled, "My brother said the same thing when we first encountered Bishop."

After a beat of hesitation, Bree asked the question she has been asking herself since she was brought here. "Be honest with me Donatello, do you think we will ever get out of here alive?"

The smile the turtle had, disappeared from his face and was replaced with a serious look.

"I wish I could confidently say yes, but I can't."

More tears slid down Bree's face as Donatello continued, "But I will tell you to not lose hope. That is the one thing Bishop can never take from us. I won't give up trying to find a way out and I promise I won't leave you behind."

The next morning the pair was awakened when their door opened. Robert walked in with a few of his buddies, a look of amusement on his face.

"Stand up Fido."

Donatello hesitated just a moment, but quickly decided to bite his tongue against what he wanted to say. Now was not the time. For now, he just had to deal with it.

Each arm was grabbed by one of the other men and then released from the chains and placed back into the familiar cuffs behind his back. After that, Robert took his chain and started to lead him to the door.

"Where are you taking him?" Bree demanded.

"This doesn't concern you." One of the other men replied.

Donatello saw her look morph into one of defiance, a look he has seen on his hot tempered brother enough times to predict what would happen next. He needed to stop her before she did something that would get herself hurt.

"It's ok Bree, I'll be fine."

The words were barely out of his mouth before the chain was yanked so hard, that he lost his balance. He fell to his knees hard enough to make him wince from the impact with the floor. He continued being pulled and if it wasn't for his quick reflexes he would have ended up flat on his face. As he leapt to his feet, Donatello felt we won a small victory as the smug smile disappeared from Roberts face at his quick recovery. He gave one more reassuring look back at Bree before the door closed behind him.

Donatello was led to a room that he had not been to before but what he saw did not look encouraging. Various equipment was in the room, ranging from exercise equipment on steroids to your typical lab paraphernalia.

And waiting in the middle of the room was Bishop looking almost giddy, like a kid walking into a candy store.

"Welcome Donatello. I am just going to get right down to it. This is where you will be spending most of your days for the next couple weeks. While I have seen you and your brothers in action multiple times, I still do not know the full extant your abilities. We will be meticulously studying every aspect of what makes you tick. You will be pushed beyond your limits."

There was no response from the turtle so the agent continued,

"But let me make myself impeccably clear, if I doubt for one moment that you are not giving it everything you have, you will be terminated without hesitation and I will procure one of your brothers to take your place. Your friend will be spared only if she is with child, if she is not then she too will be eliminated. Am I understood?"

"Yes." Donatello barley could get that one word out around the growing dread he was feeling.

And so the days passed by, leaving Donatello utterly exhausted at the end of each day. He was tested on his strength & endurance but also his tolerances to temperature changes and reactions to various drugs and poisons.

He came close to dying a few times.

One time he almost died of hypothermia when they were testing his reactions to extreme cold. His heart rate had slowed down almost to the point of stopping all together. The second time was when the exposed him to a particularly nasty neurotoxin and the antidote was almost not administered in time. The most recent time was during a test to see how long he could hold his breath under water. He had inhaled too much water and had essentially drowned. He was told that his heart stopped and he had stopped breathing, but they managed to get him back. He had Heidi to thank for that. She had done CPR on him for 3 minutes before his heart started again. Bishop had told her to stop after 2 minutes, but she ignored that order.

So far, the genius turtle has had no luck in getting his hands on something, anything that would help him to get out of these restraints. If he could find a pin, then he might be able to talk Bree through how to pick a lock but Bishop kept a very close eye on him when he was doing his experiments so he didn't have the chance to swipe anything that would work for that idea.

Donatello didn't know how much more his body could take, or how much longer he could hold on. He was exhausted, physically and mentally. He was sure this was part of Bishops plan, keep him too tired to be able to pull of an escape if he did manage to get loose, but he didn't dare to try and deceive Bishop on the tests in fear that the agent would make good on his threats.

Bree, on the other hand was well taken care of. She was fed a healthy diet and was given time for some light exercise every day.

Donatello was returned to their shared room every evening and if he wasn't too tired or already unconscious from the days' experiments, he would tell her stories of the adventures he and his brothers had.

It seemed like months had passed before the day finally arrived when they would find out if the insemination had worked.

That morning no one had come to collect him for his daily dose of Hell, as he had come to think of his sessions with Bishop.

Bree had come to sit by him and they were trying to pass the time. Both were nervous but Bree was especially so and watching her get more anxious as the time went by made the guilt Donatello felt over the whole situation grow as well.

Not much of the morning had passed when Bishop entered with Heidi and some guards, including Robert. How Donatello despised that man. The turtles' feelings for him were pretty much the same as he felt about Bishop. The man was cruel to Donatello every chance he got.

The doctor walked over to Bree. She held up what the purple masked turtled immediately identified as a specimen cup for urine. He couldn't hear what Heidi was saying but he could guess.

Bree looked over at him with a look that said 'Should I do what she says?'

Donatello nodded his head. It wouldn't accomplish anything right now to defy them.

So Bree didn't fight and filled the cup as instructed.

Heidi then produced a syringe and drew a vile of blood from Bree's arm.

Nothing else was said as Bishop and the guards followed the doctor out of the room.

Bishop followed the doctor back to the lab, where she got started right away preparing the samples for testing.

Bishop watched her for a moment before speaking,

"How long will the tests take?"

"Oh, um. The urine test should only take a few minutes, but the blood test will take longer. I actually have to run a couple different tests on that one, looking for the presence of different hormones and determining the levels."

"I will stay for the urine test, if you don't mind."

"No, of course not. Just let me get that one started."

Heidi busied herself in getting the necessary supplies and tools before starting the test. It took only a few minutes before she declared herself done.

"Now we just have to wait a couple minutes before I can read the results."

"How accurate is this test?" Bishop asked.

"It is fairly accurate. False negatives are common, but that could mean the test was taken too early to detect the targeted hormone. Even a day can make a difference in a negative or positive test, so don't assume anything if it comes back negative. The body doesn't start to emit the hormones until the egg has attached to the uterine wall, and that can take several days after the egg is fertilized. That's why I also took a blood sample. We can detect lower levels of the pregnancy hormone from the blood, but the test does take longer."

The beeping of the timer called the attention of both doctor and agent.

"What does it say doctor?"